Zen has become my most beloved for the simple reason that it does not create any theology. It does not bother about God. Because God is always that, God is always there. And the real concern is This, not that. Here, not there. Now, not then.

That is what Zen is all about -- to tell you that whatever you do, just do with full awareness. You are a buddha, you cannot be otherwise. It is impossible not to be a buddha. You can doubt it, you can deny it, but the doubt and the denial are all potentialities of your buddhahood.

No tree denies, no bird denies, no animal doubts. It is only man who has doubts, who cannot accept, "Such a poor creature like me, and a buddha?" He is perfectly ready to worship a buddha. He is perfectly ready to pray before man-made stone statues. But this seems to be too much, to accept the fact that, "I am a buddha."

And I say unto you that it is simply a question of getting tired of not being a buddha -- that's how it happened to me. I tried and tried and tried, and then finally I said, "It is better to be a buddha without effort." And since then I have been a buddha. Not for a single moment have I been otherwise. Not for a single moment has any doubt arisen.